Everything posted by Roberta12

Another thought for larger pieces.....in larger more urban areas there are businesses that stage houses for realtors or for sellers. I have sold a few things to be used for just that. Staging. Vases. Do you know an interior designer or house stager? Or Real estate agent. I really like the vase you posted in the gallery. It would look stunning with the right flowers or twigs in it. Just a thought.
Roberta

For a red underglaze I use Amaco Radiant Red. Stays nicely red. For a glaze, I used to use Coyote's Really Red. Stayed red to a hot 6. Cannot help you if you are going to cone 10. Amaco has a chart that give approximations of their Underglazes at low, mid, high firing. Perhaps that will help. Inclusion Mason stains will stay bright to cone 6. I have had good results with them.
Roberta

Yappy, I had to look at your location....to make sure it was not where I used to be!! Time to bolt. Even if you have to take a hiatus until you can save up enough for a kiln or find a good used one....could be worth it. My friend likes to tell the story of Ruth Ann Tudball who didn't have a kiln and threw pots for 3 years.....apparently she was reclaiming them.
Good luck. I feel your pain, have walked your path.
Roberta

There are a few potters here in town, but they are not interested in conversation about clay/firing/glaze/element wear/making cone packs or anything at all really. So I did go searching for community and found YOU ALL!!!! since then I have connected with a few potters in a town 40 miles east, met some potters at a local workshop (150 miles south) and do stay in touch with people. It's how I learn, but I work best on my own. I have a group of makers that I meet with often and we plan joint events and collaborative projects. That is a great source of support. But none of them are potters....
I belong to NCECA, and ICAN and I have a membership in an art center 150 miles south of me, I do like community!
Roberta

I have had my head in paperwork for the last week!!! I didn't even know about the articles featuring Callie and Mark!!! So glad the articles were mentioned! I just read them both. So proud to know both of you! Great work. I now know why you both have been a pottery voice in my head, down to earth and smart! Congrats!
Roberta

If you are mixing a clear glaze, there are a few to try. I don't have access to Standard, but have tried all of Laguna and Aardvark and Continental's midfire porcelains. Get your hands on a copy of Mastering Cone 6. They have a couple of clears in there. Min gave me a clear recipe, I mixed up a small batch and now that Christmas is over will do further testing on it. I also mixed up a small batch of Low Expansion Clear out of the John Britt book. More testing on this one as well. Recipe below
F-4 feldspar 24.4
Silica 26.4
Wollastonite 14.7
Kaolin 14.2
FF 3249 20.3
Bentonite 2
Roberta

I use a lot of underglaze with my work. I use it mostly on bisque because the bisque is more sturdy and puts up with my handling. But I have used it successfully on greenware. I put my design on the bisqueware, spray clear over and fire to cone 6. Designer liner by Mayco can be used to put down fine lines, you can draw with a great deal of detail. Then you can "paint" over the lines you have drawn with underglaze. I use Amaco and Duncan underglaze, simply because that is what I have available. I hear that there are other underglazes that are good as well. At times I have used underglaze pencils. They perform well also. It is simply a different look. You can use underglaze to coat an entire piece or for small designs. or to add a small pop of color. Underglazes are quite versatile. They can be blended and mixed to get just the color or effect you want. Red is rather expensive, but the rest of them aren't too bad considering how long they last and the small amount a person used. The maroon and pink seem to burn out at cone 6. Red holds its color nicely.
Good luck!
Roberta

I am out of porcelain. I am out of clear glaze. I do not want to mix more right now. I discovered today that I need to change two elements due to glaze landing on them (I do not know how they have been firing so well) All signs are pointing towards hanging it up for 2017!

That is interesting. Hadn't thought about that. Just finished a two day show. I had a friend recommend odd numbers. So that is what I did. $11, 13, 27, like that. I really don't know if it made much difference. I came close to selling out. I have never had that happen. But I like the 8's.
I had Mea's voice in my head talking about raising prices because things were selling so quickly. But the shoppers came so fast I didn't have time. However, I may need to think about that. in the future.
Roberta

Mea, you mentioned the Jack Reacher series before, So I started reading those (very entertaining!) I will now check out these two characters you have mentioned. And no, I am not doing audiobook, but I am downloading from the library for reading. I love your recommendations! Have you read/listened to Robert Galbraith? Quite satisfying.
In the studio, I start with a variety of music in the morning, check in on Public Radio at some point during the day, change up the music, and will probably end up with something on Hulu. I really like a lot of the BBC comedies and dramas.

I had a collaborative project with a friend. I made the trays, she applied the black underglaze and did the sgraffito work. I bisqued the pieces to 04 and sprayed them with clear. All of the pieces came out with a white speckling and slight pitting. I have not noticed this effect on my other work with underglaze and clear. But I do not normally use large expanses of black. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? We would love to do more of this work.
Roberta

Because I live a long way from a kiln parts store, I keep a few parts on hand. Like pretty much everything. I have had to replace a relay twice. Not the same one. But it's pretty clear when you do need to do that. When I change the elements, I change the thermocouples. Like Mea said, they do seem to last longer, but they are not expensive (relatively) and it's easy to do while you have everything apart.
Roberta